The Tempest Essay | The Tempest

The Tempest

Summary: In his play, The Tempest, Shakespeare conveys themes through different character pairs. Each pairing is a guise for a different theme in the play's plot. For instance, Ariel and Caliban are thought to be grouped together because they show two contrasting sides of servitude. Other examples lie behind Miranda and Ferdinand's "love at first sight", as well as the forgiveness that Alonso, Antonio, and Prospero receive.

In his play, The Tempest, Shakespeare conveys themes through

different character pairs. Each pairing is a guise for a different theme in

the play's plot. For instance, Ariel and Caliban are thought to be grouped

together because they show two contrasting sides of servitude. Other

examples lie behind Miranda and Ferdinand's "love at first sight", as well

as the forgiveness that Alonso, Antonio, and Prospero receive. Each

grouping of characters is placed strategically throughout the play by

Shakespeare to exemplify different themes.

Ariel and Caliban are both under Prospero's servitude, and are

actually foils for one another. However, while Ariel abides by Prospero's

rules willingly, Caliban only serves Prospero out of fear. They are both

obligated to serve Prospero and do his bidding, but while Caliban is only

trusted to do the simplest of tasks, Ariel is the equivalent to Prospero's